1872
by zebrastripes88
Summary: Scully and Mulder take a case in Kansas at a museum. But is it just simply a museum, or something more?
1. Chapter 1

I'm usually known for writing romance stories, but I thought I'd give a more paranormal story a try. I hope you enjoy! Please leave a review if you could. This will be a multi-chapter story, just FYI. Also, I can't remember if any episodes of the X Files included a story in Kansas, so if it did, then just consider my story happening before that episode. There is no actual timeline for this fan fic, other than it doesn't happen in the very beginning.

* * *

Scully walked into the shared basement office to Mulder sitting at the desk, head bowed, looking over some documents. It felt like any other day of the week.

"Good morning Scully," he said, not looking up from his work.

"So what case are we working on today?" she asked, setting her belongings down on a shelf next to a stack of books.

Mulder looked up. "We're headed to Kansas, Scully. There's a pioneer museum there where two employees have mysteriously died while on the job. And another employee claims to have seen a ghost. It's right up our ally."

"A pioneer museum?" Scully asked.

"Yeah, the Wild West, the Oregon trail, the log cabin days," Mulder grinned.

Scully rolled her eyes. "I get it. I just can't believe a museum like that is our case. But then again, I guess I can believe anything these days. When do we leave?"

"I booked two flights out for 2pm today. We will probably be there at least through tomorrow afternoon," he said.

"I guess I'll go back home and pack," Scully sighed. She wished Mulder had thought to call her before she came all the way to work.

"What about our emergency stash of supplies?" Mulder got up and walked over to a cabinet a few feet away from the desk. He opened it, revealing a small duffel bag.

Scully sighed. "I forgot to restock it after the last time we used it."

"I'll pick you up at noon," he said, smiling uncomfortably, feeling bad she had to go home now.

Two minutes til noon, Mulder arrived at Scully's apartment. She let him in and then she went to the kitchen to grab a couple of granola bars to put in her purse. She adjusted the thermostat and then they were on their way.

The flight was uneventful, thankfully. Scully had even gotten in a brief nap. As they drove to their motel, Mulder struck up a conversation about how he had never been to Kansas before.

"It's about the only state I haven't been to," he said.

"I haven't been here either," Scully said, looking out the window at the unexciting landscape along the road. "I'm not too impressed so far."

Mulder chuckled and made a left turn into the motel parking lot. It was a one story exterior corridor motel, probably built in the late 1950's. The doors were painted a sickly green color and the roof was in desperate need of replacement. Scully had expected nothing less. The Bureau never provided a big budget for accommodations. Poor Mulder tried his best to get the least worse place when he made their reservations but he never really knew how a place would actually be.

After they got settled in, they headed to the museum. It was a brief, ten minute drive from the motel.

A Mr. Peterson greeted them at the front desk and directed them to a small office where the general manager, a Mrs. Lipton, was sitting at an oak desk. She did not say a word after Mr. Peterson introduced them.

Mulder and Scully awkwardly sat down on the two chairs across from Mrs. Lipton. The woman still hadn't spoken yet.

Mulder exhaled deeply and began by explaining why they were here and asked if they could please take a look at the areas where the bodies had been found.

Mrs. Lipton unenthusiastically got up and led them to a large room with a big movie screen on the wall. There were about 30 red, plush seats placed in an angled fashion which gave the appearance of a small movie theater.

"James Smith was the first victim, and he was found slumped in this chair," Mrs. Lipton pointed at the second chair from the left in the front row. A large sheet was draped over the chair.

"We haven't used this theater since it happened," she explained.

"Understandable," Scully nodded her head.

"The other employee who died, Elizabeth St. Clair, was found on the cafeteria floor. It happened more recently, as you know, and that is when we closed the museum semi-permanently," she told them, leading them down the hall.

After they took a good look around the cafeteria, Scully could feel the effects of the large size iced tea she had ordered at lunch and asked where the restrooms were.

As she walked to the restroom, she passed by a room filled with artifacts from the late 1800's. A life-size wagon was set up so that small children could sit in it for pictures if the parents so wished. Many black and white pictures of pioneer families were hung up on the walls. Scully noticed a small door in the back of the room and walked over to it. She thought maybe it was an area kids could play in, but she was wrong. She opened the door and realized it was a small tunnel that lead to who knows where. Was it possible the killer had hid in here before attacking his or her victims?

She was able to crawl into the tunnel and she scooted towards the end of it. Before she got to the end, there was a huge flash of bright light and she heard a loud roaring sound. The light and noise lasted about 10 seconds and then suddenly ended as quickly as it had begun. Scully gasped. Before her eyes, the entire scenery had changed. Before, it was simply a dark room, little light coming in from a skylight above it. Now it was an open field, grass everywhere, and a blazing sun shining down. What the hell had just happened?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Scully walked into the field, looking around her. There was tall grass for what seemed like miles. She could see a structure in the distance of what appeared to be a partially built log cabin. Scully couldn't believe how realistic this room was. The museum must have spent a fortune on it to make it appear so genuinely real. She walked toward the cabin to go check it out.

As she approached the cabin, she noticed a shirtless man wearing suspenders chopping some wood.

"I didn't think the museum was open right now for a demonstration," she thought.

As she got closer, she realized it was Mulder. Fox Mulder, her partner at the FBI, was chopping wood, shirtless. Scully gulped at his appearance. He seemed stronger, more buff. He had beads of sweat on his forehead. He looked at her with a curious smile.

"Mulder, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Mulder? Who's Mulder?" he asked. "My name is Tom. Tom Jones. What brings you here?"

Scully was mystified. "Look Mulder, I don't know what you're saying, but what the hell are you doing in here? We're supposed to be solving a murder case, not demoing chopping wood for the museum."

Mulder/Tom just stared at her. "Ma'am, I don't understand what you're saying. I've been Tom Jones since the day I was born. I moved out to Kansas about two months ago and I've been working on building this cabin since then. Are you lost?"

Scully bit her lip. What on earth was happening? Why was he saying these things? "What kind of game are you playing? Snap out of it Mulder and let's go! We have a lot of work to do, including exhuming that first body. We don't have time for this nonsense."

Mulder/Tom continued to look confused. "If you're trying to get me to go with you somewhere, I'm a proper man. I might be an eligible bachelor, but I respect women. You're welcome to stay here awhile and drink some tea with me. I'm getting pretty hot and could use a break."

Instead of walking toward Tom/Mulder, Scully turned around and looked at the area surrounding her. She started to run. She ran, and ran, and ran. She never ran into any walls. She felt the heat of the sun beating down on her. She could smell the grass beneath her feet. She even noticed birds flying above her. It was then she realized she was no longer at the museum. Something had happened. Something bizarre.

Scully walked back toward Tom, who appeared much more baffled than he had before. "Mul…Tom, what year is it?"

Tom just stared at her. "1872. June 7th by the way."

Scully couldn't believe it. How on earth could she have just traveled through time? How could this be real? She had seen many a crazy, unexplainable thing in the few years she had been working with Mulder on the X Files but this had to be the most bizarre thing she had seen yet. It even topped her being abducted by aliens. Because, at least from her knowledge, during the abduction, it had been the same year.

Scully took a deep breath. "Tom, I know you are not going to believe me. And honestly, I don't know how to believe it myself. But I'm from the future. I'm from the year 1996. I can't explain it."

Tom was quiet for a moment. "So you thought I was someone else when you first saw me? Am I someone else in your future? Your time period?"

Tom was just as believing as Mulder was. He didn't question Scully. He was actually going along with it. Or perhaps he thought she were crazy and was trying to figure her out.

"Yes," she replied. "Your name is Fox Mulder and you are my partner at the FBI. You're also my best friend."

"What is the FBI?" he asked.

Scully remembered then that the FBI hadn't even been established until the early 1900's. "Umm, it's kind of like police, or a sheriff, but the crimes are much more involved and harder to solve." She honestly didn't know how to explain it to him; she knew that was a crappy explanation.

"You say I'm your best friend. We're not married?" Tom seemed genuinely puzzled.

"No! Of course not!" Scully said quickly, her face certainly blushing a deep shade of red. She supposed it would make sense that in this time period, a man and woman probably wouldn't be friends unless it was strictly romantic interest. What was the word Mulder used earlier? "Proper"? It just wasn't proper for men and women to be friends.

Tom didn't press the issue, seeing the deep blush on the woman's face. "How did you get here?" he asked.

"I was at a museum, working on a case, and I opened a door, and there was a tunnel, and as I walked through it, all of a sudden, I was here." Scully was still having a difficult time believing it.

"Where is that tunnel?" Tom asked.

Scully pointed to the area of grass she had been walking over when she arrived in 1872. She led Tom to the spot and tried to find some kind of door, or cave, or something. The only thing the two of them could find was a small, perfectly round patch of dead grass.

"Perhaps this is where you came from?" Tom suggested.

Scully thought about it for a moment. What if this was the spot the museum would be built a century later? Tom had said they were in Kansas. That idea wasn't too far-fetched. But how had she traveled through time? Why was Mulder here, even though he was technically someone else? Would she be able to get back to 1996?

"I suppose it might be," Scully began. She explained to Tom what her theory was, about the spot being where the museum would be in the future. "I can't explain it though. I don't think anyone would be able to."

* * *

Thank you to those who left reviews! I wanted to say, I came up with the idea for this story from a book I just read, "A Murder In Time" by Julie McElwain. It's a fantastic book, I highly recommend it! This fan fic I'm writing certainly has some similarities, but I would never copy someone else's work. It is simply just an inspiration. I wanted to throw that out there in case anyone has read the book and thought that. I plan to have chapter three up sometime next week.


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